Forever and Ever

Discussion of a new book "Forever and Ever" by Dan A. Baker
This is a novel about future scientific discovery leading to aging reversal and immortality in a youthful state


Greetings,

This is a place for discussion of a new book:

Forever and Ever
by Dan A. Baker


Review 1:

"Dan Baker has found the pulse of modern biotechnology and brings it to life with an incredible ride to the very edge of current science. Packed with electrifying scenarios, evocative romance, riotous characters and edgy commentary."

-- Walter D. Funk, PhD.

Review 2:

"Baker's book opens a window into the fascinating world of modern biotech and it's limitless future. Not only are the techniques, the medicine,the companies and the people accurate and well-written, but his scientific theme - reversal of human aging - is about to become reality in the very near future."

-- Dr. Michael Fossel, Author of REVERSING HUMAN AGING


and Cells, Aging, and Human Disease


Review 3:

I was very impressed with this book. BAKER GOT THE SCIENCE RIGHT!! Congratulations! The author learned the science of gene-based immortality, and wrote it flawlessly! Above all, Baker grasped and conveyed the complexity of genomics, bio-informatics, and protein modeling and wrote it in a way anyone can understand.

The systems biology approach forwarded in the story with self-regulated gene cascades is the kind of integrative biology that biologists are just now beginning to fully appreciate. Almost all the miracles the author attributes to stem cells in adults are plausible in systems biology. Not only does the science flow in FOREVER AND EVER, it sails tightly across the text!

-- Stanley Shostak,Ph.D., Author of BECOMING IMMORTAL


[My] Review 4:

FOREVER AND EVER is absorbing reading: When I started reading this book I just could not stop, absorbing it for a whole night, like a kid. This book may awake and electrify the society, sending a strong message that the horrific toll of the "inevitable" and "natural" aging process,and the passive resignation with which it is currently accepted, just should not be tolerated any longer in a technologically advanced society.

We may hear about this book very soon in many places from many people, leading to a growing loud public demand to start a serious large-scale biotech war on aging.

-- Dr. Leonid Gavrilov, Ph.D., Author of BIOLOGY OF LIFE SPAN

Notes at the back cover of the book Forever and Ever:

What If?
Gene-based aging reversal and immortality in a youthful state is suddenly achieved by Dr. Jasmine Metcalf, an unlikely renegade biotech scientist. Battling tragedy, relentless irony and torrid love affair, Jasmine is drawn into the colorful world of garage-biotech to treat a child dying of old age.

DAN A. BAKER is a writer and producer from the Bay Area, with interests in history, American culture, geopolitics, and the impact of technology on the human race.
Published works include One Man's War a nonfiction account of a legendary unrequited wartime love story, and several feature film scripts, including SUV.
Forever and Ever is in feature film development, and is expected to go into production in 2008.

Post your comments below!:

Eye Color

Eye Color and Human Diseases

Greetings,

Here are some notes on possible links between the eye color and human health & performance:

Light eye colour linked to deafness after meningitis.
PMID: 11238154

Eye colour, hair colour and skin colour are important risk factors for malignant melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancers. PMID: 9602230

In this study we found significant differences in choice reaction time using the McCarthy and Donchin (1981) paradigm, the dark-eyed subjects being faster than the light-eyed. PMID: 8170759

Eye colour and susceptibility to noise-induced permanent threshold shift.257 3rd-year apprentices were given ear, nose and throat examination, electroacoustic impedance tests and audiometry. Their eye colour was also recorded. Average hearing levels of otologically normal left ears were poorer at 4 kHz (p less than 0.05) for apprentices with eye colours indicating no melanin pigmentation of the iris than for apprentices with melanin iris pigmentation.PMID: 7352922

There was a significant linear association between 20 degrees detection thresholds and eye color (r = 0.39), which was substantially improved with a two-line function (part level and part increasing linearly, r = 0.65). CONCLUSIONS: We were generally unable to demonstrate the relationship between eye color and sensitivity reported previously using a Cochet-Bonnet esthesiometer. However, for a subset of subjects with palest irises, there appears to be a linear association between eye color and sensitivity to cooling stimuli. PMID: 16044076

Human pigmentation, including eye color, has been associated with skin cancer risk. These results suggest that P gene, in part, determines normal phenotypic variation in human eye color and may therefore represent an inherited biomarker of cutaneous cancer risk. PMID: 12163334

Eye color and cutaneous nevi predict risk of ocular melanoma in Australia. Risk of choroidal and ciliary body melanoma (n = 246) was increased in people with grey (OR 2.9, 95% CI 1.5-5.5), hazel (OR 2.2, 95% CI 1.4-3.7) and blue eyes (OR 1.7, 95% CI 1.0-2.7) compared with brown eyes. Non-brown eye color was a risk factor for iris melanoma (n = 25). Eye color is the strongest constitutional predictor of choroidal and ciliary body melanoma, and may indicate a protective effect of melanin density at these sites. PMID: 11351315

Eye color and pure-tone hearing threshold. Pure-tone hearing thresholds at test frequencies, 250, 500, 1000, 2000, 4000, and 8000 Hz, were compared for 149 unambiguously blue- vs 172 brown-eyed individuals. Blue-eyed subjects ages 17 to 30 years (M = 20.3) had a significantly elevated mean hearing threshold at the highest frequency tested. PMID: 7899021

Researchers investigating performance differences between light- and dark-eyed individuals have indicated that dark-eyed individuals perform better on reactive activities than light-eyed individuals. College students (61 men, 64 women) performed a forehand rally with different colored racquetballs. Eye color, sex, and total hits were recorded for each subject. Men scored significantly better with balls of each color than did women. Dark-eyed men performed better than other subjects and performance was better with blue balls than yellow or green balls. PMID: 7808908

Eye color and hypertension Compared to persons with each lighter eye color, those with brown eyes were more prone to develop hypertension, with relative risk of 1.5 (95% confidence interval 1.18-1.96) compared to all persons with nonbrown eyes. The association persisted after control for race, sex, body mass index, alcohol use, educational level, parental history of hypertension, and among whites, for ethnic origin as crudely estimated by last name. Partial confirmation was obtained in three largely independent study groups: 1) 25 pairs of eye-color-discordant dizygotic twins; 2) 894 pairs of incident hypertensives and controls selected only with multiphasic screening blood pressure measurements; and 3) cross-sectional analysis of 152,018 multiphasic screenees. The weak association of eye color with hypertension clearly requires further confirmation. Although it has little potential for use in screening or clinical care, it may have implications regarding etiology. Areas for further exploration include the close metabolic relation of melanins to catecholamines, both derived from the amino acid tyrosine, and the possibility that dark-eyed persons react more quickly and strongly to stimuli than light-eyed persons. PMID: 2292985

Effect of eye color on heart rate response to intramuscular administration of atropine. Subjects with more pigmented irides (brown-eyed) showed a more rapid rise in heart rate compared to less pigmented irides (hazel-eyed and blue-eyed subjects). Following injection by the device with a slower atropine absorption rate, these differences were particularly enhanced and an abbreviated bradycardic phase of the heart rate response was observed for the brown-eyed subjects. This observation confirms earlier reports and suggests the possibility of an interference by melanin (in the iris or elsewhere) in atropine accessibility to selected muscarinic target sites.PMID: 3209800

The pigmentation of human iris influences the uptake and storing of zinc. Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is more prevalent among the elderly Caucasians than in Africans. A significant association between light iris colour, fundus pigmentation and incidence of AMD is reported, suggesting a possible correlation with melanin pigment. Zinc is known to bind to melanin in pigmented tissues and to enhance antioxidant capacity by function as a cofactor or gene expression factor of antioxidant enzymes in the eye. In this in vitro study, we investigated the uptake and storage of zinc in human irides. Irides of blue and brown human eyes were used. The number of melanocytes was measured. Tissues without any treatment served as controls. The irides were incubated with 100 microM zinc chloride in culture medium for 24 h. Specimens of the tissues were stored for the uptake examination. The remained pieces were further incubated for 3 and 7 d to investigate the storage of zinc. The concentration of zinc was measured by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Melanocytes count was significantly higher in the brown tissues (P < or =" 0.01)" or =" 3.0," or =" 1.5," or =" 1.1," p =" 0.05)." trend =" .001)." ratio =" 7.3;" interval =" 2.6-20.1" n =" 246)" or =" 4.1" or =" 4" or =" 3.4)," or =" 2.8)," x2 =" 15.04," p =" .02)."> 45 years, p <>age-associated increases in lens OD.PMID: 11045246

See also:

Color Atlas of the Eye in Systemic Disease
by Daniel H.,Gold and Thomas A. Weingeist (Editors)

Book Info
Univ. of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston. Combines features of a color atlas with a quick reference, tabular format. Includes most of the major and more common systemic disorders with significant ocular manifestations, along with less common ocular-systemic diseases. Abundant, high-quality color illustrations are included. DNLM: Eye Manifestations--Atlases.

Key words:
eye color, eye colour, diseases, health, performance, deafness, malignant melanoma, non-melanoma skin cancer, hearing levels, sensitivity to cooling stimuli, ocular melanoma, hearing threshold, reactive activities, hypertension, rise in heart rate, macular degeneration.

Fatal Years

Greetings,

Here are some notes from reading this highly rewarding book:

Fatal Years - Child Mortality in Late Nineteenth Century America
by Samuel H. Preston and Michael Haines
Princeton University Press (January 1, 1991)

Book Description
Fatal Years is the first systematic study of child mortality in the United States in the late nineteenth century. Exploiting newly discovered data from the 1900 Census of Population, Samuel Preston and Michael Haines present their findings in a volume that is not only a pioneering work of demography but also an accessible and moving historical narrative. Despite having a rich, well-fed, and highly literate population, the United States had exceptionally high child-mortality levels during this period: nearly one out of every five children died before the age of five. Preston and Haines challenge accepted opinion to show that losses in privileged social groups were as appalling as those among lower classes. Improvements came only with better knowledge about infectious diseases and greater public efforts to limit their spread. The authors look at a wide range of topics, including differences in mortality in urban versus rural areas and the differences in child mortality among various immigration groups. "Fatal Years is an extremely important contribution to our understanding of child mortality in the United States at the turn of the century. The new data and its analysis force everyone to reconsider previous work and statements about U.S. mortality in that period. The book will quickly become a standard in the field."--Maris A. Vinovskis, University of Michigan

Notes:

p.6:
Autopsies in several cities around the turn of the century showed that 10 percent or more of infants who died were infected with tuberculosis (von Pirquet 1909). Woodbury (1925:35) reports that offspring of tuberculous mothers in Baltimore in 1915 had 2.65 times the infant mortality of offspring of nontuberculous mothers.

p.7:
According to the prominent economist Irving Fisher, "Every observer of human misery among the poor reports that disease plays the leading role" (Fisher 1909:124). A 1908 survey of schoolchildren in New York found that 66 percent needed medical or surgical attention or better nourishment (cited in Fisher 1909:74).

p.7:
"... in coming centuries, we may hope to greatly lessen or destroy the disease?" Thirty-nine physicians replied "no", 6 "yes", and 3 did not reply (Bowditch 1877:117).

p.20:
John Duffy (1971:401) suggests that the germ theory awakened the upper classes to the realization that bacteria did not respect social or economic conditions and that a person's health was dependent on that of others.

p.23:
Milk could and did spread typhoid, scarlet fever, diphtheria, strep throat, and tuberculosis (North 1921) ... Pasteurization was also widely believed to harm the taste of milk (North 1921:274). In 1911 only 15 percent of the milk supply in New York was pasteurized. Before 1908, when pasteurization was made compulsory in Chicago, only fifth of milk sold had been pasteurized (North 1921:246).

p.24:
Samples of milk supplies intended for consumption from around the country in 1905-10 showed that 8.3 percent contained tubercle bacillli (North 1921).

p.26:
...rural residents were already substantially protected from one another by distance

p.27:
The extreme dependence of the child on the mother is best illustrated by what happened when she died in childbirth or shortly thereafter. While we have no evidence about this from the nineteenth century, a study of registered births (about 13,000) in Baltimore during 1915 found that the infant mortality rate among babies whose mothers died within two months of childbirth (N = 32) was 625 per 1000 (Rochester 1923:151). Of the 366 children admitted without their mothers to New York City's Infant Hospital in 1896, 97 percent had died by April 15, 1897 (Henderson 1901: 105). The death of a mother was only the extreme instance of parental incapacity, of course, and contemporary accounts described widespread health problems of American women that affected their maternal performance (see Leavitt 1986; ch. 3 for a review).

p.27:
The Children's Bureau study of infant mortality in eight cities between 1911 and 1915, in which the Baltimore study represented about half of the observations, found that death rates among those not breastfed were 3-4 times higher than among the breastfed (Woodbury 1925)

p.27-28:
Undoubtedly, an important advantage of breastfeeding was the protection it gave against diarrheal diseases, which struck with particular vengeance in summer (Lentzener 1987). Valuable evidence from Berlin in 1901 showed that the seasonality of infant mortality was essentially absent among breastfed children: the ratio of July/August deaths to February/March deaths was 2.90 for infants fed on cow's milk and 1.06 for infants who were breastfed (Schwartz 1909:168).

p.30:
... very high mortality of children born out of wedlock. Rochester's study of Baltimore found that the infant mortality rate for illegitimate children was 300.7 per 1000, compared with 103.5 per 1000 for legitimate births (Rochester 1923:170)

p.30:
Illness and death were apparently accepted in a passive attitude of Christian resignation (Dye and Smith 1986:343)

p.31:
Writing about her experiences with Irish mothers in New York's Hell's Kitchen in 1902, Josephine Baker comments that they "seemed too lackadaisical to carry their babies to nearby clinics and too lazy or too indifferent to carry out the instructions that you might give them. I do not mean that they were callous when their babies died. Then they cried like mothers, for a change. They were just horribly fatalistic about it when it was going on. Babies always died in summer and there was no point in trying to do anything about it" (Baker 1939:17).

p.32:
In the extreme, male wards of the state who posed serious threats to the public order could be castrated (e.g., Barr 1905; Fisher 1909) -- not an uncommon operation.

p.35:
Ginsberg (1983), for example, suggests that boys were treated better than girls in nineteenth century Massachusetts (as revealed in their lower mortality) because they had higher earning capacities.

p.35-36:
In Irving Fisher's words, "The crowning achievement of science in the present century should be, and probably will be, the discovery of practical methods of making life healthier, longer, and happier than before" (Fisher 1909:64).

p.39:
The superior mortality of rural residents is most plausibly attributed to their simply being more widely separated from one another's germs. Of course, rural areas differed profoundly from one another, as later inquiries by the Children's Bureau made abundantly clear. ... A study of a mountain region in North Carolina in the period 1911-16 found ... 64 percent of residents infected with hookworm; and an infant mortality rate of 80 per 1000 (Bradley and Williamson 1918).

NIH Program

New NIH Program Announcement with Broad Spectrum of Fundable Topics

Greetings,

Recently I have come across this interesting NIH program announcement with very broad spectrum of fundable topics:

Title: Social and Cultural Dimensions of Health (R01)
Program Announcement (PA) Number: PA-07-045

• Purpose. The ultimate goal of this program announcement is to encourage the development of health research that integrates knowledge from the biomedical and social sciences. This announcement invites applications to (a) elucidate basic social and cultural constructs and processes used in health research (b) clarify social and cultural factors in the etiology and consequences of health and illness (c) link basic research to practice for improving prevention, treatment, health services, and dissemination, and (d) explore ethical issues in social and cultural research related to health.
  

1. Research Objectives

The ultimate goal of this program announcement is to encourage the development of health research that integrates knowledge from the biomedical and social sciences. This involves the further development of health-related social science research relevant to the missions of the NIH Institutes and Centers (ICs) and the development of multi- or inter-disciplinary research that blends the theories and approaches of the social and biomedical sciences. Within the broad spectrum of research identified in this announcement, applicants are encouraged (but are not required) to employ multiple (i.e., biological, behavioral, and/or social) levels of analysis.

This announcement invites applications to (a) elucidate basic social and cultural constructs and processes used in health research (b) clarify social and cultural factors in the etiology and consequences of health and illness (c) link basic research to practice for improving prevention, treatment, health services, and dissemination, and (d) explore ethical issues in social and cultural research related to health.

This program announcement is a conversion and revision of PA-02-043 and is based upon recommendations submitted to the NIH in conjunction with the conference entitled Toward Higher Levels of Analysis: Progress and Promise in Research on Social and Cultural Dimensions of Health , June 27-28, 2000, Bethesda, MD. Also see “Social Science and Health Research: Growth at the NIH,” American Journal of Public Health, 94, 1, Jan. 2004: 22-28.You may request these publications from the Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research, Office of the Director, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892.

Social scientists have made significant strides in shedding light on the basic social and cultural structures and processes that influence health. Social and cultural factors influence health by affecting exposure and vulnerability to disease, risk-taking behaviors, the effectiveness of health promotion efforts, and access to, availability of, and quality of health care. Social and cultural factors also play a role in shaping perceptions of and responses to health problems and the impact of poor health on individuals' lives and well-being. In addition, such factors contribute to understanding societal and population processes such as current and changing rates of morbidity, survival, and mortality.

Numerous reports from the Institute of Medicine and National Research Council have pointed to the importance of social and cultural factors for health and the opportunities for improving health through a better understanding of mechanisms linking the social and cultural environment to specific health outcomes. To realize these opportunities, social science research related to health must be further developed and ultimately integrated into interdisciplinary, multi-level studies of health. Linking research from the macro-societal levels, through behavioral and psychological levels, to the biology of disease will provide the integrative health research necessary to fully understand health and illness.

This program announcement invites applications for research on the social and cultural dimensions of health in five areas:

1. Basic social and cultural constructs and processes used in health research.

2. Etiology of health and illness

3. Consequences of poor health for individuals and social groups.

4. Linking science to practice to improve prevention, treatment, health services, and dissemination.

5. Ethical issues in social and cultural research.

The goal of this announcement is to encourage further development of health-related social sciences research relevant to the missions of the ICs. These missions encompass a broad range of scientific questions related to the health and well-being of our nation's people. Information about the specific missions of the ICs participating in this program announcement is posted at http://www.nih.gov/icd/.

1. Basic Constructs and Processes

Advances in social science research on health depend on a foundation of basic theory and knowledge that describes social structures, the dynamics of social and cultural processes, and the ways in which individuals are located in and interact with the environment, social structures, and cultural factors. Several key sociodemographic constructs, including race, ethnicity, gender, age, and socioeconomic status, are widely used in studies of the etiology of health and disease and in research that describes and monitors the distribution of disease across social categories, geographic areas, and time. However, the meanings of such constructs depend on their cultural, geographical, and historical context, and their utility in health research depends on their use in ways that are theoretically and historically grounded. In addition, the concept of culture requires careful theoretical grounding in health studies. Most social scientists agree that the concept of culture is complex and implies a dynamic and ever-changing process.

This program announcement encourages research on basic social and cultural constructs and processes in the following areas:

Social Stratification and Inequalities

Research is needed to explore the implications of different conceptualizations and measurements of social stratification systems and processes, such as socioeconomic status (SES) and social class, age, gender, and race/ethnicity for understanding health at the individual and higher levels of aggregation (e.g., community). Research to improve the monitoring and understanding of inequalities in health and disease among diverse groups, and the implications for monitoring of strategies used to measure basic constructs such as socioeconomic status and social class, age, gender, race, and ethnicity.

The National Research Council‘s study of Critical Perspectives on Racial and Ethnic Differences in Health and Late Life discusses several issues related to racial and ethnic inequalities in health, including the nature of racial and ethnic differences, an outline of causal pathways implicated in health disparities, and a research agenda in the field of racial and ethnic differences in health. (See N. B. Anderson, R. A. Bulatao, and B. Cohen, Editors, Panel on Race, Ethnicity, and Health in Later Life, National Research Council, Critical Perspectives on Racial and Ethnic Differences in Health in Late Life, The National Academies Press, Washington, DC, 2004.)

Social Integration

Research is required to clarify the social, cultural, and economic factors that influence the social integration of individuals and the social cohesion of groups, including the causal dynamics of social networks.

Culture

Studies are necessary to improve the conceptualization and operationalization of culture as well as of social and cultural change in health research. Efforts are needed to identify those definitions and dimensions of cultural phenomena and intra-cultural and inter-cultural variation and change that are most useful in understanding health, and the mechanisms through which cultural phenomena influence health.

2. Etiology

Social science research on the etiology of health and illness recognizes that health may be affected by a diverse set of mechanisms operating among and within social structures existing at different levels. At the highest levels are structures and processes that involve and affect populations broadly: government, media, economic systems, social stratification, political processes and policy-making, and broadly-held cultural values and practices. Some of these processes also operate in communities and neighborhoods, in social institutions (e.g., schools, churches, and businesses), and in social or professional organizations. However, at these levels processes contributing to social cohesion, social support, social control, social and cultural conflict, and the development and enforcement of social and cultural norms play a larger role. In families and small groups, interpersonal processes such as conflict and support, socialization, and sharing of resources play a dominant role.

A valuable contribution of the social sciences is to understand health and disease not solely as an individual biological problem, but as a social phenomenon associated with social ties and other forms of social influences. From this perspective, research must address how mechanisms that link social and cultural phenomena to health operate within and emerge from specific social contexts. Social contexts provide the stage for social and cultural factors to influence health, and the characteristics of social context directly affect social and cultural processes.

This Program announcement encourages research on topics and questions such as the following:

Overarching Issues

Research is needed to improve understanding of how macro-level (societal) factors, such as social policies, structures, and cultural norms, are linked to micro-level (individual) factors, such as a person's behaviors, and ultimately to health. What are the causal pathways that lead from the sociocultural environment to general vulnerability to disease and disease-specific outcomes? Research that integrates theories and methods from the social and biomedical sciences is particularly encouraged to address these questions.

Interpersonal, Social, and Cultural Factors

Essential are studies of the implications for health of the characteristics and content of network ties and of how individuals and groups organize themselves into networks and other social arrangements, including the mechanisms through which social integration/cohesion, social influence, and other social processes affect the health of individuals and contribute to health disparities. More research is needed on cultural processes and belief systems (such as religion or the nature of health/disease), at the individual, family, community, and institutional levels, and their relationships to health, including recovery from disease and addiction, with particular attention to potential mediating mechanisms (e.g., socially-determined patterns of stress and coping with stress).

Social Contexts

Research is considered necessary on the role of social contexts (e.g., family and households, religious institutions, work places, schools, health-care organizations and systems, neighborhoods, and communities, geographic location, residential segregation, legal and administrative policies, communication environments) in mediating or moderating sociocultural influences on health of individuals. Studies are required to conceptualize and measure social contexts in order to specify which particular aspects of social context are relevant to health and the mechanisms through which they operate. This includes research on how health policies impact on diverse populations, such as those defined by immigration status, gender, race/ethnicity, sexual orientation, or age, and on the pathways through which social policies (such as gun control, urban renewal, welfare reform, and taxes on alcohol and tobacco products) affect the health of diverse populations.

3. Consequences of Poor Health

Connections among health, functional capacity, and productivity are complex and difficult to disentangle, but empirical research is emerging that addresses the consequences of poor health for economic well-being at the individual, family, and population levels. Understanding the consequences of health and illness is important to the mission of the NIH. First, health disparities among groups varying in socioeconomic status result in part from the reciprocal influence of SES on health and health on SES. The nature of these feedbacks needs to be fully understood if we are to understand the mechanisms underlying health disparities. Second, the value of investment in improving health can be only partially understood by focusing on health outcomes alone. For example, improvements in quality of life resulting from social, economic, and cultural change at both the individual and societal level are an important part of the picture.

This program announcement encourages research on the consequences of poor health, such as the following:

Self Care

Research is desired on self-care or self-regulation (including the choice of complementary or alternative medical practices) as a response to illness and in the management of health conditions, considering the influence of social, cultural, and economic factors on the adoption and consequences of this strategy.

Coping Strategies

Required are investigations of the coping strategies people use to adapt to illness and disability, the influence of social, cultural, and economic factors on these strategies, and the impact of these strategies on health and well-being at the individual, family, and community level. Research on the consequences of death and dying for the health and well-being of the deceased's relatives and friends as well as on the coping strategies people use to adapt to illness, disability, and death of a relative or close friend.

Social Stigma

Needed are studies of stigma across physical and mental health conditions (including addictions), care settings, outcomes and groups, including research on the social and cultural origins of stigmatization of illnesses. What are the implications of stigma for access to care and treatment? How does stigma affect outcomes across health conditions?

Impact of Health on Society

Research is necessary to examine how the health of individuals impacts upon macro-level processes and systems is also needed. How does the health of individual members of a group (e.g., family, household, firm) affect the composition and functioning of the group? Also of interest is research on the influence of poor health on economic performance of organizations and societies. (For example, see International Studies of Health and Economic Development, NIH Guide to Grants and Contracts, May 30, 2000; http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-TW-01-001.html)

4. Linking Science to Practice to Improve Prevention, Treatment, Health Services, and Dissemination

The social sciences are important in efforts to prevent and treat illness and to promote health. Research in the social sciences can pinpoint environmental contexts, social relationships, interpersonal processes, and cultural factors that lead people to engage in healthy behaviors, seek health services before disease symptoms worsen, and participate with medical professionals in treating illness. The incorporation of social science research and theory into prevention, treatment, service, and health-promotion programs is likely to result in more effective interventions. In addition, research on the dissemination and translation of social science research findings can ensure that investments in basic research have their maximum impact on health.

This program announcement encourages social sciences research on prevention, treatment, health services, health promotion, and information and program dissemination in the following areas:

Prevention

Greater theoretical development and conceptual work is needed in the field of prevention, including clarifying the concepts of risk and protection and their meanings within distinct populations, defining the distinctions between health promotion and disease prevention, and promoting generalizability of theoretical frameworks. Research is desirable to design, implement, and evaluate interventions based upon the theories, concepts, and methods identified earlier in this announcement (e.g., social networks, social contexts, cultural beliefs).

Treatment and Management of Disease

Research is needed on cultural competence at multiple levels, including health systems, agencies and providers, with an emphasis on primary care and mental health settings. Also, research is essential to define what constitutes “culturally competent care”, develop and test different models (best practices) of culturally competent care, and test models in randomized controlled trials. Research is desired that explores the interface between traditional/alternative and allopathic/western medicine and health maintenance practices and identifies the circumstances under which either or both function more effectively.

More at:
http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PA-07-045.html

Grants

New Instructions on How to Submit Grant Applications to NIH


Greetings,

Here are some new instructions on how to do electronic submission of grant applications to the US National Institutes of Heath (NIH):

-------------------------

NIH workshop, December 5, 2006

NOTES

Steps of electronic submission:

1. Need to register – organization at Grants.gov and NIH eCommons. PI at NIH eCommons (or be affiliated with institution at eRA Commons).

2. Need to download specific forms for R01 and populate them (PureEdge software).

3. Create and add attachments as pdf files.

4. After applying validate until you see the application in eCommons.

General comments:

- New forms SF-424 (R&R) but no change in NIH grant policy.

- Must respond to specific funding opportunity announcement (PA or RFA) – select FOA at the Grants.gov. Each announcement has its own forms.

- Authorized organization representative (AOR) will submit the application.

- Two systems (Grants.gov used for all 16 agencies and eRA Commons for NIH) are working together.

- PureEdge Viewer is needed to view the forms; also pdf generating software (PureEdge will be replaced by Adobe in the future).

- Each funding opportunity announcement (FOA) has its own forms.

- Grants OER page has info on PA. For unsolicited applications NIH created parent announcement with very broad scope.

- Download FOA forms from Grants.gov

- Download NIH Application Instructions (application package) and save at local computer.

All forms are in PureEdge format, attachments are in pdf format.

- Most attachments are first prepared in text editor (MS Word) and then converted to pdf.

- Version 2 of Instruction guide is the newest.

- Yellow fields in forms are mandatory for Grants.gov

- Cover component: 1) type of submission – application; 2) Applicant information – info about organization rather than PI (use only one DUNS number that is in eRA Commons); 3) type of application (resubmission – formerly revision in NIH; renewal – formerly competing continuation in NIH); CDFA number (from FOA) may be left blank.

- Project narrative – 2-3 sentences about public health relevance.

- Senior key person profile – the first component to be filled out (up to 8 persons); attach biosketches as pdf, 4-page limit and sections limit.

- New component – Research & related senior/key personnel (up to 40 individuals). Don’t convert to pdf – this is PureEdge form.

- Current support – not needed at the time of submission (added later).

- Credential field – eCommons user ID (mandatory for PI).

- Budget:
efforts calculated in months, not % effort
equipment – up to 10 items
travel – separate domestic and foreign
other direct costs (supplies, publication, consortium, consultants)

- Budget justification – pdf attachment, year is inserted one by one, for every year its own budget and budget justification file; No summary page for budget.

- consortium – email PureEdge form to consortium organization and get it back filled.

- for modular grant no need to send detailed budget from consortium.

- Cover letter – this is not a part of electronic submission to NIH, but recommended.
Once cover letter was submitted, then it should be resubmitted after correction/change.

- cover page supplement (new investigator, code and degree).

- Research Plan – 15 attachments. May be created as one document and later split into parts.

- If section in Research Plan ends at the middle of the page there are blank spaces. It is allowed to have up to 28 pages for Research Plan (will get warnings), if 29 pages or more – receive error.

- Appendix – up to 10 attachments (see instructions).

- No headers, footers and page numbers.

- Avoid 2 column format.

- Include specific headings (e.g., Specific Aims).

- If multiple PIs – add PI leadership plan.

- Letters from consultants – scan images and convert to pdf.

- Subcontractor should have DUNS number.

- Size limit for application – 200MB.

- Correction window for applications after submission – one week. When it comes to eCommons, then there is an opportunity to look at the application. If it looks fine do nothing, if it does not look fine there are 2 days (weekends are counted) for AOR to delete the application and resubmit it again.

P.S.:
By the way, I have found this book to be helpful:

Guide to Effective Grant Writing:
How to Write a Successful NIH Grant Application
by Otto O. Yang, 2005


See also:
http://www.niaid.nih.gov/ncn/grants/write/index.htm

NAAJ Paper

New article on human longevity studies published in a professional peer-reviewed journal -- North American Actuarial Journal


Greetings,

We are pleased to announce publication of a new research article on human longevity predictors, published in a professional peer-reviewed journal (to get the full text just click on the title below):

Gavrilova N.S., Gavrilov L.A.
Search for Predictors of Exceptional Human Longevity:
Using Computerized Genealogies and Internet Resources for Human Longevity Studies.
North American Actuarial Journal, 2007, 11(1): 49-67.

Abstract

This paper explores new opportunities provided by the ongoing revolution in information technology, computer science and Internet expansion for studies of exceptional human longevity. To this aim, the detailed family data for 991 alleged centenarians born between 1875 and 1899 in the United States were extracted from publicly available computerized family histories of 75 million individuals available at Rootsweb site. To validate the age of the centenarians, these records were linked first to the Social Security Administration Death Master File records (for death date validation) and then to the records of the U.S. censuses for 1900, 1910 and 1920 (for birth date validation). The results of this cross-validation study demonstrated that computerized genealogies may serve as a useful starting point for developing a reliable family-linked scientific database on exceptional human longevity.

The resulting database on centenarians with validated ages was used in the study of the predictors of exceptional human longevity, including familial factors and early-life living conditions. The comparison of households where children (future centenarians) were raised (using data obtained through linkage of genealogies to early U.S. censuses) with control households drawn from the Integrated Public Use Microdata Series for the 1900 U.S. census suggests that a farm background (farm ownership by parents in particular) and child residence in the Western region of the United States may be predictive for subsequent survival to age 100. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that lower burden of sickness during childhood (expressed as lower child mortality in families of farm owners and families living in the West) may have far-reaching consequences for survival to extreme old ages.

Analysis of familial factors suggests that there may be a link between exceptional longevity and a person's birth order. It was found that first-born daughters are three times more likely to survive to age 100, compared to later-born daughters of higher birth orders (7+). First-born sons are twice more likely to become centenarians compared to sons having birth order between four and six. Further within-family comparison of centenarians with their siblings found that the protective effect of being first-born is driven mostly by the young maternal age at person's birth (being born to a mother younger than 25 years). Being born to a young mother is an important within-family predictor of human longevity and even at age 75 it is still important to be born to young mother to survive to 100 years.

Earlier drafts of this study were presented and discussed at several professional meetings and received media coverage in the New York Times, Washington Post, Reuters, ABC News, MSNBC etc: http://longevity-science.org/Media-Coverage.html

The article will appear online shortly at the Society of Actuaries website, and at the University of Chicago library website

Home:
Longevity Science Blog
and
NAAJ Paper
Shorter weblink:
http://tinyurl.com/2fl2hp

Please post your comments below!:

Biodemography Talk

Mark your calendar for March 7 lecture on human longevity at the University of Wisconsin - Madison!


Greetings,

We are pleased to announce our upcoming invited lecture on Human Longevity Studies to be held on Wednesday, March 7 at the University of Wisconsin - Madison:

Biodemography of Human Longevity:
New Findings and Ideas

Time:
Wednesday, March 7, 2:15 - 3:45 PM

Location:
4308 William H. Sewell Social Science Building
Center for Interdisciplinary Research and Training in Population Aging and Health
Center for Demography of Health and Aging (CDHA)
University of Wisconsin - Madison
Madison, WI 53706 USA

Everybody is cordially invited, but please check the admission policy with the organizer listed at the bottom of the seminar program:

http://cdha.ssc.wisc.edu/seminars.asp

Hope to see you there!


P.S.:
Here are some of our representative publications related to this talk. You can get full texts of our publications just by clicking on the titles of our papers below:

Gavrilova N.S., Gavrilov L.A. Search for Predictors of Exceptional Human Longevity: Using Computerized Genealogies and Internet Resources for Human Longevity Studies. North American Actuarial Journal, 2007, 11(1): 1-19.

Gavrilov L.A., Gavrilova N.S. Childhood Conditions and Exceptional Longevity. Full paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Population Association of America, Los Angeles, CA, April 1, 2006, 35 pages. Published online at: http://paa2006.princeton.edu/download.aspx?submissionId=61675

Gavrilova, N.S., Gavrilov, L.A. Human longevity and reproduction: An evolutionary perspective. In: Voland, E.; Chasiotis, A. & Schiefenhoevel, W. (eds.). Grandmotherhood - The Evolutionary Significance of the Second Half of Female Life. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2005, 59-80

Gavrilov LA, Gavrilova NS. Reliability Theory of Aging and Longevity. In: Masoro E.J. & Austad S.N.. (eds.): Handbook of the Biology of Aging, Sixth Edition. Academic Press. San Diego, CA, USA, 2006, 3-42.

Gavrilov LA, Gavrilova NS. Models of Systems Failure in Aging. In: P Michael Conn (Editor): Handbook of Models for Human Aging, Burlington, MA : Elsevier Academic Press, 2006. 45-68. ISBN 0123693918

We may be available for meetings at the University of Wisconsin-Madison on:

- Tuesday, March 6, 10 - 12am and 2 - 3:45pm
- Wednesday, March 7, 10 - 12am

If you are interested in meeting with us, and are a faculty member of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, please e-mail to Deborah Carr -- carr(at)ssc.wisc.edu -- by Monday, March 5th.

Survival Models

List of recent books on statistical modelling of survival times (lifetimes)
Comments and suggestions are welcome!


Greetings,

Recently I have got the following interesting question by e-mail:

Would you know of any good sources of information (books, papers) covering previous longevity research based on statistical modelling of survival times (lifetimes)?

Thanks for any suggestions!

Well, the answer to this question may be of public interest, therefore I post it here.

What first comes to my mind, are these books and book chapters:


Book chapter "Models of Systems Failure in Aging"
by Gavrilov LA & Gavrilova NS, 2006
In: Handbook of Models for Human Aging
by P Michael Conn (Editor):



Stochastic Ageing and Dependence for Reliability
by Lai, Chin-Diew, Xie, Min, 2006



Survival Analysis: A Self-Learning Text
(Statistics for Biology and Health)
by David G., Klein, Mitchel, 2nd ed., 2005



Applied Mathematical Demography
(Statistics for Biology and Health)
by Keyfitz, Nathan and Caswell, Hal, 3rd ed., 2005



Statistical Demography and Forecasting
(Springer Series in Statistics)
by Alho, Juha M. and Spencer, Bruce D., 2005



Survival Analysis
by Klein, John P. and Moeschberger, Melvin L., 2nd ed. 2003



The Life Table: Modelling Survival and Death
(European Studies of Population)
by Wunsch, Guillaume; Mouchart, Michel; Duchêne, Josianne (Eds.), 2002



Modern Applied Statistics with S
by W.N. Venables, and B.D. Ripley, 4th ed. 2002. Corr. 2nd printing, 2003



Modeling Survival Data: Extending the Cox Model
(Statistics for Biology and Health)
by Terry M. Therneau and Patricia M. Gramb, 1st ed. 2000. 2nd printing, 2001



Statistical Models Based on Counting Processes
(Springer Series in Statistics)
by Andersen, P.K., Borgan, O., Gill, R.D., Keiding, N., 1st ed. 1993. Corr. 4th printing, 1997



Reliability Engineering
(Topics in Safety, Reliability and Quality)
by Aggarwal, K.K., 1993



Biology of Life Span: A Quantitative Approach
by Leonid A. Gavrilov and Natalia S. Gavrilova, 1991


The classic books and papers on statistical modelling of survival times (lifetimes) published before 1991 can be found at:

http://longevity-science.org/references.html

This list of classic publications may be also useful for the studies on the history of science of survival models.

Hope it helps,

Please feel free to post your comments and other books suggestions!

Just post them below, please:

Centenarians

List of studies on exceptional human longevity
Corrections and additions are most welcome!


Study title: The Utah Study of Fertility, Longevity and Aging (FLAG)
Principal Investigator: Smith, K.R.
Sample description: Individuals with extreme longevity and their family members recorded in the Utah Population Database
Estimated number of centenarians: ~3,000 born before 1908; ~600 born in 1890-1899


Study title: The New England Centenarian Study
Principal Investigator: Perls, T.T.
Sample description: A population-based sample of individuals achieving exceptional longevity, and living in Massachusetts and Connecticut.
Estimated number of centenarians: 1,500-2,500


Study title: Clinical and Pathological Studies in the Oldest Old
Principal Investigator: Kawas, C.H.
Sample description: Medical history and lifestyle information for 4,682 cohort members who reached age 90 (Leisure World Cohort Study)
Estimated number of centenarians: <500


Study title: Ashkenazi Jewish Centenarian Study
Principal Investigator: Barzilai, N. J.
Sample description: A group of Ashkenazi Jewish centenarians and their children.
Estimated number of centenarians: <500


Study title: Population Based Multidisciplinary Study of Centenarians
Principal Investigator: Poon, L. W.
Sample description: Centenarians of North Georgia
Estimated number of centenarians: <500


Study title: Longevity Genes in Founder Populations
Principal Investigator: Shuldiner, A.R.
Sample description: Old Order Amish and Ashkenazi probands (age greater than 95 years) and their family members
Estimated number of centenarians: ~300


Study title: Genetic Studies of Successful Aging in the Amish
Principal Investigator: Scott, W.K.
Sample description: Amish adults aged 80 and older and their relatives.
Estimated number of centenarians: <200


Study title: Multicenter Study on Exceptional Survival in Families
Principal Investigator: Mayeux, R.
Sample description: Family history study of approximately 600 elderly residents, aged 95 years or older, residing in the New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut tri-state area.
Estimated number of centenarians: <200


Study title: Families of cohort survivors over 90
Principal Investigator: Newman, A.B.
Sample description: 400 individuals who have reached age 90 (participating in the Cardiovascular Health Study), their siblings and children
Estimated number of centenarians: <200


Corrections and additions are most welcome!

Cholest-Off

This is a place to discuss the efficacy and potential side effects of the "Cholest-Off" -- a mix of plant sterols and stanols (Reducol) distributed by Amazon.com, and claimed that it "may reduce the risk of heart disease, and clinically proven to reduce cholesterol." Please post your comments below!


Here is what they claim:

Product Description
Cholest-Off contains Reducol- a unique, proprietary blend of natural plant sterols and stanols. Plant sterols and stanols, also known as phytosterols and stanols, are naturally occurring substances present in leaves, nuts, vegetables and other plants. Over 40 years of clinical research on plant sterols and stanols have demonstrated their long-term safety with no known adverse effects. Products containing at least 0.4 grams per serving of plant sterols and stanols, eaten twice a day with meals for a daily intake of at least 0.8 grams as part of a diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol, helps support cardiovascular health. One serving of Nature Made Cholest-Off supplies 0.9 grams of plant sterols and stanols. As part of a cholesterol management program, you should consult your physician and have your cholesterol levels checked regularly. Many factors such as diet, body weight, physical exercise and age can affect your cholesterol levels. That is why a diet low in saturated fat and regular exercise are recommended as part of a cholesterol management program. However, diet and exercise alone don't always reduce your cholesterol levels to the desired range. That's where Nature Made Cholest-Off can help. Total Cholesterol: Desirable......Less than 200 mg/dL Borderline.....200 to 239 mg/dL High..............240 mg/dL or greater Cholest-Off with Reducol, is clinically proven to reduce LDL (bad) cholesterol and total cholesterol by blocking cholesterol absorption. As a result, taken as directed, Cholest-Off will lower your cholesterol levels and help support your cardiovascular health. These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.

Nature Made Cholest-off 240 Caplets - Clinically Proven to Reduce Cholesterol


Here are some definitions:

Sterols -- Sterols are a subgroup of steroids with a hydroxyl group in the 3-position of the A-ring. They are lipids synthetised from Acetyl coenzyme A. Important sterols include cholesterol, phytosterols, and some steroid hormones. Sterols of plants are called phytosterols. Plant sterols are also known to block cholesterol absorption sites in the human intestine thus helping to reduce cholesterol levels in humans

Stanols -- hydrogenated sterols. The difference between stanols and sterols is that the former are saturated (by hydrogen) and the latter are not.

Reducol -- is a patented blend of naturally occurring compounds found in plants known as phytosterols and phytostanols. It works primarily by blocking absorption of cholesterol in the gut without being absorbed into your body. Reducol is a tasteless and odourless ingredient that can be incorporated into a variety of applications including non-fat and fatty functional foods and dietary supplements. It is derived from coniferous trees, and is manufactured in the USA by Canadian biotech firm Forbes Medi-Tech.

Reducol is listed and discussed in these new books:

Physicians Desk Reference 2006:
Guide to Drug Interactions, Side Effects, and Indications


Handbook of Functional Lipids (Functional Foods and Nutraceuticals)



But what about the potential side effects of impaired cholesterol absorption?
Does anybody know?

Please post your comments below if you have any kind of experience with this product, and side effects in particular; or know the most recent scientific literature on possible side effects. Thanks!

Actuarial Talk

Mark your calendar for March 13 lecture on human longevity at the Chicago Actuarial Association (CAA) workshop!


Greetings,

We are pleased to announce our upcoming invited lecture on Human Longevity Studies to be held on Tuesday, March 13 in Chicago:

Predictors of Exceptional Human Longevity

Time:
Tuesday, March 13, 4:10 pm

Location:
Chicago downtown,
Building of the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois,
300 East Randolph Street, CAL level, room for C2 session
NothEast corner of Randolph and Columbus Drive
Chicago, IL 60601

Everybody is cordially invited, but the admission requires a prior registration at the Chicago Actuarial Association at:

http://chicagoactuarialassociation.org/

and a picture ID will be also asked at the reception.

Hope to see you there!

Here is a brief description our upcoming talk:

Predictors of Exceptional Human Longevity

- This presentation will discuss new developments and findings from the ongoing study of predictors of exceptional human longevity. Topics include: the effects of maternal age at person's birth, family size, birth-order, season of birth, geography of childhood residence, and parental occupation, socioeconomic status, and parental lifespan.

P.S.:
By the way, if you are curious to know who are the actuaries, and what is the actuarial profession about, please take a look at these new actuarial books:

Market-Valuation Methods in Life and Pension Insurance (International Series on Actuarial Science)
by Thomas Moeller and Mogens Steffensen, 2007



Financial and Actuarial Mathematics
by Yiu Kuen Tse and Wai-Sum Chan, 2007



Fundamentals of Actuarial Mathematics
by S. David Promislow, 2006

SENS 3

Scientific Program of the upcoming third conference "Strategies for Engineered Negligible Senescence" (SENS), Cambridge, England, September, 2007.


Greetings,

I am pleased to get an e-mail message from the organizer of the third Strategies for Engineered Negligible Senescence (SENS) conference, Dr. Aubrey de Grey, which in fact represents a public announcement to share:

I am writing to notify you that registration and abstract submission are now open for the third Strategies for Engineered Negligible Senescence(SENS) conference, to be held at Queens' College, Cambridge, England on September 6th-10th 2007. The early registration and abstract submission deadlines are both June 15th. All details, including forms for abstract submission and online registration, are at the conference website:

http://www.sens.org/sens3/

The preliminary program already has 48 confirmed speakers, all of them world leaders in their field. As for previous SENS conferences, the emphasis of this meeting is on "applied gerontology" -- the design and implementation of biomedical interventions that may, jointly, constitute a comprehensive panel of rejuvenation therapies, sufficient to restore middle-aged or older laboratory animals (and, in due course, humans) to a youthful degree of physiological robustness. The list of sessions and confirmed speakers is as follows:

New pharmaceutical interventions in aging: Patrizia D'Alessio, Laura Dugan, Randy Strong

Immunotherapy against cancer: Zheng Cui, Robert Hawkins, Claudia Gravekamp

Persistent viruses in aging: Ruth Itzhaki, Ed Mocarski, Rita Effros, Arne Akbar

Protecting the brain (genes and delivery): Elizabeth Corder, Pedro Alvarez

Damage to long-lived intracellular molecules: Sataro Goto, Kim Janda, Paola Scaffidi

Non-insertional gene therapy: Nicola Philpott, Michele Calos, Fyodor Urnov

Rescue of mitochondrial mutations: Ian Holt, Marisol Corral-Debrinski, Volkmar Weissig, Samit Adhya

Telomeres and cell senescence: Mary Perry, Gillian Butler-Browne, Lenhard Rudolph, Walter Berger

Non-specific nuclear DNA damage in aging: Jan Vijg, Michael Siciliano, Aubrey de Grey

Deriving autologous embryonic stem cells: Chang-Kyu Lee, Wolfgang Engel, Miodrag Stojkovic

Regeneration of complex structures: Stephen Minger, Chris Mason, David Gardiner

Eliminating beta-amyloid: Ashley Bush, Beka Solomon, Yoh Matsumoto, David Morgan

Repair and turnover of extracellular material: Robin Franklin, Dwight Towler, Cato Laurencin

Long-term goals of biomedical gerontology: Chris Phoenix, Ben Best, Ray Kurzweil

Outreach to key communities: Linda Powers, Michael Rose, Huber Warner, Bernard Siegel

In addition, there will be at least a dozen short talks selected from submitted abstracts, as well as poster sessions each evening. Authors of short talks and posters will, like the invited speakers, be invited to submit a paper summarising their presentation for the proceedings volume, which will be published in the nigh-impact journal Rejuvenation Research early in 2008.

Please note that registration fees are fully inclusive of accommodation and all meals.

I hope to welcome you to Cambridge in September!

Cheers, Aubrey

Aubrey de Grey
Organiser, SENS 3
Chairman and Chief Science
Officer, Methuselah Foundation
Editor-in-Chief, Rejuvenation Research
(impact factor 8.571)

New Books

New Books on Aging and Longevity Studies.
You are most welcome to add new books here yourself if you do know some new interesting books!

See also:
New Books for August 2007
New Books for July 2007
New Books for June 2007
New Books for May 2007




Greetings,

This is a place for continuously updated list of new interesting books on aging and longevity.

Consider this as a starter, and please feel free to add new books here!
(Please do not forget to mention the book ISBN number, if you know it!)

New Books and Book Chapters:

• Ageing: The Paradox of Life
by Robin Holliday (Hardcover - Mar 2007)



• Ageing Well: Nutrition, Health, and Social Interventions
by Alan Dangour, Emily M. D. Grundy, and Astrid Fletcher - Mar 1, 2007



• Aging of the Genome: The Dual Role of DNA in Life and Death
by Jan Vijg



• Aging and Disability: Crossing Network Lines
by Michelle Putnam (Editor) - Feb 28, 2007



• The Art of Aging:
A Doctor's Prescription for Well-Being
by Sherwin B. Nuland - February 27, 2007

This popular book is discussed here.


• How to Live Forever or Die Trying
by Bryan Appleyard - January 22, 2007

This popular book discussed here


• Statistical and Process Models for Cognitive Neuroscience and Aging (Notre Dame Series on Quantitative Methodology)
by Michael J. Wenger and Christof Schuster (Editors) - Jan 15, 2007



• Aging Research: A Look at Some of the Scientific Evidence on Aging
by Harold Massie Ph.D. (Paperback - Jan 10, 2007)



• Health Aspects of Aging: The Experience of Growing Old
by Gari Lesnoff-Caravaglia (Hardcover - Jan 2007)



• Mechanisms of Dietary Restriction in Aging and Disease (Interdisciplinary Topics in Gerontology)
by C. V. Mobbs, K. Yen, and P. R. Hof



• Book Chapter "Cytokine Polymorphisms and Longevity"
By Irene Maeve Rea, Giuseppina Candore, Luca Cavallone, Fabiola Olivieri, Maurizio Cardelli, Claudio Franceschi, Giuseppina Colonna-Romano,Domenico Lio, Owen A. Ross and Calogero Caruso
In: Cytokine Gene Polymorphisms in Multifactorial Conditions
by Koen Vandenbroeck (Editor)



• Book chapter "Anti-Aging Medicine and Science: Social Implications" by Robert H. Binstock, Jennifer R. Fishman, and Thomas E. Johnson
In: Handbook of Aging and the Social Sciences, Sixth Edition (Handbook of Aging) by Robert H. Binstock (Editor), Linda K. George (Editor)



• Book chapter "Mechanisms of Aging"
by Leng SX and Fedarko NS.
In: Geriatric Anesthesia
by Frederick E. Sieber



• Human Longevity, Individual Life Duration, and the Growth of the Oldest-Old Population (International Studies in Population)
by Jean-Marie Robine (Editor), Eileen M. Crimmins (Editor), Shiro Horiuchi (Editor), Yi Zeng (Editor)

Note a chapter "Patterns in mammalian aging: demography and evolution" by SN Austad there.


• Book chapter "The Mouse in Aging Research"
by Flurkey K, Currer JM, Harrison DE.
In: The Mouse in Biomedical Research, Volume 1-4, Second Edition (American College of Laboratory Animal Medicine)
by James G. Fox, Stephen Barthold, Muriel Davisson, and Christian E. Newcomer



• Longevity Health Sciences: The Phoenix Conference (Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences)
by Richard G. Cutler, Stromboli Conference on Aging And Cancer, Walter Pierpaoli, and Phonenix Conference on Longevity Health


• Longer Life and Healthy Aging (International Studies in Population) by Y. Zeng (Author), Yi Zeng (Editor), Eileen M. Crimmins (Editor)

Note a chapter there: "Aging without dementia"
by Barberger-Gateau P, et al.,


• Biological Aging:
Methods And Protocols
(Methods in Molecular Biology (Clifton, N.J.), V. 371.)
by Trygve O. Tollefsbol (Editor)



• Aging Nation:
The Economics and Politics of Growing Older in America
by James H. Schulz, Robert H. Binstock


• New Dynamics in Old Age:
Individual, Environmental And Societal Perspectives
(Society and Aging Series)
by Hans-Werner, Ph.D. Wahl (Editor), Clemens Tesch-roemer (Editor), Andreas Hoff (Editor)



• The Evolution of Death:
Why We Are Living Longer
(Suny Series in Philosophy and Biology)
by Stanley Shostak



• Biology, Sociology, Geology by Computational Physicists,
Volume 1 (Monograph Series on Nonlinear Science and Complexity)
by Dietrich Stauffer et al.

This book includes discussion of biological aging, human mortality and longevity.


• Extending the Lifespan:
Biotechnical, Gerontological, and Social Problems
by Klaus Sames (Editor), Sebastian Sethe (Editor), Alexandra Stolzing (Editor)

Contributions by:
Vladimir N. ANISIMOV, Alexander BUERKLE, Gerald DeHAAN, Gerhard HOFECKER, Michael S. JAZWINSKI, Frieder KELLER, Valery N. KHABASHESKU, Tilmann KLEINE, Rosemarie MARTIN, Christoph MEISSNER, Ann-Kathrin MEYER, Will W.MINUTH, Gerald M NCH, Khachik MURADIAN, William O. OGLE, Klaus P SCHEL, Wolfgang von RENTELN-KRUSE, Volker RICHTER, Ramon RISCO, George S.ROTH, Antonio RUIZ-TORRES, Kenneth B. STOREY, Stefan THALHAMMER, Peter VISCHER, Jan WOJNAR, Bartosz WOZNIAK


• Biology of Aging: Observations and Principles
by Robert Arking

Textbook, third edition


• Aging: Concepts and Controversies
by Harry R. Moody



• Enduring Questions in Gerontology
by Debra J. Sheets, Dana Burr Bradley, and Jon Hendricks

Note a chapter "A biologist’s perspective: whence come we, where are we, whither go we?" by SN Austad there.


• The Evolution of Aging
How New Theories Will Change the Future of Medicine
by Theodore C. Goldsmith - October 17, 2006

This popular book is discussed here


• The Truth About Aging: Can We Really Live Longer and Healthier? (Full Spectrum Information Library Series)
by George Roth




• What Books People Read?
Somewhat disturbing list of best-selling books on aging and longevity


Upcoming:

• Austad, SN & Finch, CE (2007) The evolutionary context of human aging and degenerative disease. in S.C. Stearns & J.C. Koella (Eds). Evolution in Health and Disease, 2nd Edition. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK (in press).


• The Biology of Human Longevity:
Inflammation, Nutrition, and Aging in the Evolution of Lifespans
by Caleb E. Finch (Hardcover - Jun 26, 2007)



• Forever and Ever
by Dan A. Baker - April 1, 2007

This novel (not scientific book) is discussed here


Have Questions? Comments? New Books to Suggest?
Post them below!

Key words:
New books, Ageing, Aging, Longevity, Life-extension, Genome, DNA, Death, Disability, Growing Old, Dietary Restriction, Disease, Gerontology, Anti-Aging Medicine, Life Duration, Oldest-Old, Longer Life, Healthy Aging, Growing Older, Old Age, Evolution of Death, Lifespan, Evolution of Aging, Human Longevity.